Do I need to get my car serviced?

Just because your grandparents charged you £500, doesn't mean it's only worth that, nor does it mean you can replace it for £500.

Get hold of the Haynes Manual for it - your local library may even have a copy. That'll tell you how to do a basic service for yourself.

if you are going to use it in the severe winter weather it would be foolish not to have a proper service.

Are they getting it serviced at a Ford dealership? not sure where you live but a local garage round here doesn't cost that for a service.

MoT.

Yes, you'll need it done every year.

Hi, got my first car in September, bought a MK1 Focus off my grandparents, only one 32k miles, they got it serviced religiously each year, spark plugs, fuel/pollen filters, oil etc. The thing is I only paid £500 for the car, they've been paying £280 a year for the service, my road tax is due as well at £230. I know service history is nice to have value wise, but will it make a difference when I paid £500.

I know service is partly safety and how well the car runs, but it's done ~3k miles since the last service, do I really need another, or on my low milage can I do every 2 years?

I know it's worth more, but still with service/tax/mot I'd be paying more than I bought the car for annually never mind insurance.



I've done the basics, checked tyre pressure, oil, water, coolant, screen wash etc.


Local garage, I think they were just getting ripped off to be honest.


I know about the MOT, I was meaning do I need a service and MOT after ~3k miles. The car itself runs great.

Its worth getting the car serviced once a year. So when you next get it serviced depends on when it was last serviced. You dont need to get it serviced at a ford garage or anywhere like that. You can get it serviced at a local garage which will be a lot cheaper and do the same job.

You need an MOT once a year by law. So get it MOT'ed just before the old one runs out.

I know I need an MOT every year, I'm not questioning that. It's was last serviced with the last MOT last January, it's just is a service every 3000 miles ott. Especially when I'm already checking tyres, coolant, oil etc anyway.

To be honest I couldn't do a service, my mums car is an Alfa and that actually only needs servicing every two years and that is the manufacturers recommendation. So if the car was only serviced 3k ago and you can't afford it for now leave it a few months until you can. It won't conk out just because you are a few months late, try not to leave it until a full 2 years, perhaps another service early summer? Or september before he chill sets in? Tax it for six months until you can get a bit saved up?

What kind of driving were those 3k miles? If most of them were on the motorway then another 6 months will be fine. If it was all stop-start city driving then an oil change might be a good idea, but not entirely necessary. Three thousand miles is fairly low for a full service, I start worrying about mine at around the 10k mile mark.

Done another check, not even 3k miles, is only 2300 since the last MOT/service. It will be mainly short journeys, I've done 1300 of it. Two 200 mile motorway stints and the rest short around town.

I wouldn't worry about it massively for a while yet then - just keep an eye on things like oil consumption and fuel consumption until maybe early Summer, and get it booked in then for a full service (or learn how to do it yourself!)

Might be worth having a look at a few things yourself. If nothing else, check the oil. If it's black and sludgy then it probably need changing (presuming it's a petrol, as diesels tend to blacken the oil straight away). Check the level of it and other fluids are nicely within the limits. Most are very easy to top up, just make certain you are using the right stuff and don't over-fill. You should do all these things regularly anyway, as well as checking things like tire pressures and condition, lights etc.

I check the tyres, oil, break/engine fluid every month or so anyway. How do I check the oil, I know how to check the level and on the dipstick the oil looks totally fine, would that show if it's sludgy or do I need to check some other way?

Thanks.